BJP leader and Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari retained his home ground on Thursday after defeating Congress leader Nana Patole in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections by a margin of around 2,14,859 votes, from Nagpur. While Gadkari (as per Election Commission of India) got 6,57,624 votes, Patole fetched 4,42,765 votes.

Calling it a ‘Modi Tsunami’, the BJP today exceeded its own tally of 2014 (282 by BJP and 336 by NDA in 2014) by crossing the 300-mark. The NDA won nearly 350 seats.

In 2014, Gadkari had defeated senior Congress MP Vilas Muttemwar by a higher margin of almost 2,86,828 votes. Gadkari had garnered a total of 5,87,767 votes in comparison to 3,00,939 votes secured by Muttemwar.

Former BJP MP from Bhandara-Gondia constituency (Maharashtra) Nana Patole joined Congress in 2018. Patole quit the BJP in December 2017 after accusing PM Narendra Modi of turning a blind eye towards farmers’ apathy in Vidarbha. Subsequently Patole resigned as Member of Parliament from Lok Sabha in 2017. After he joined the BJP in 2014, he defeated NCP heavyweight Praful Patel by a margin of 1,50,000 votes.